Recently, ten instead of the originally promised 6.8 billion euros for the new chip factory were under discussion.
(Photo: Reuters)
Frankfurt After months of poker, the contract for the construction of Intel’s new chip factory in Magdeburg is dry. On Monday, the federal government invited to a photo session on the occasion of the signing of an agreement in the presence of Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Intel boss Pat Gelsinger. No further details were given.
The level of subsidies for this project had been disputed until the very end. Intel had referred to increased costs. According to a report by the Bloomberg agency, the funding amount was increased to ten billion euros, as discussed recently, although Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner had resisted it. The federal government had originally promised 6.8 billion euros. The government initially did not confirm the subsidy volume.
It also remained unclear whether Intel would also spend more money. People familiar with the negotiations had brought this up beforehand, with reference to EU subsidy law issues. A total of 17 billion euros was originally budgeted for the project. Bloomberg reported, citing those familiar with the plans, that Intel will now invest 30 billion euros.
The US chip group is expanding worldwide: In the past few days, Intel had announced the construction of a $25 billion plant in Israel. “This is the largest investment ever made by an international company in Israel,” said Benjamin Netanyahu, the country’s prime minister. Intel also wants to invest around 4.6 billion dollars in Poland: A plant for testing and assembling processors is to be built in Wroclaw.
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